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Where are they now?

02-27-2004, 06:25 PM

I realize the roster is shrinking every few weeks.
It seems (just in the last few years) more and more old Dodgers are passing away to the Ebbets Field in the sky.
The address list needs to be updated.
Do you have an idea how many old Brooklyn heroes are still alive?

Comment

You can get A Baseball Life of Palmyra's Jimmy Bucher from the Lebanon (PA) County Historical Society for $4.50.
It's a nice 30 page booklet on Bucher who played for Casey Stengel while he was on the Dodgers.

Does anyone know where Owen lives?
I had a couple of addresses but never made contact.

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It's amazing that Mickey Owen is still with us. I don't know how he survived the Mexican League. I've got a picture of him peering out of a dugout that appears to have sunk. The roof on the dugout seems to be barely a foot higher than the ground. He appears to be trapped in the dugout and on the verge of being crushed. He was fortunate to have escaped.

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The following article about Sam Nahem may be of more than passing interest to some - as it was to me. He had a semi-regular job for several years pitching batting practice for Brooklyn, and, as revealed here in a Gene Hermanski thread of a few months ago, Nahem played for the Bushwicks in 1946 (also at other times, I think). As to his presence at the Brighton Beach Baths, I pass on that one. brother shlevine, wasn't that your territory?

‘Subway’ Sam Nahem, ballplayer and union man, dies at 88

by joe eskenazi
staff writer

One spring day in 1940, after a particularly disastrous outing, young Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Sam Nahem was asked by a New York Daily News reporter what good he was doing the team.

“I am now in the egregiously anonymous position of pitching batting practice to the batting practice pitchers,” said the clever right-hander, without missing a beat.

Often the only New Yorker — and Jew — his teammates had ever met, he was nicknamed “Subway Sam.” A born raconteur and lifelong liberal, Nahem died Monday, April 19, of natural causes at age 88 in his Berkeley home.

Nahem, a former Brooklyn sandlot baseball legend, Brooklyn college quarterback, and law school graduate and licensed attorney, went on to pitch parts of four seasons in the big leagues sandwiched around a military hitch. After hanging up his spikes in 1948, he moved his family from the Big Apple to Berkeley nearly 50 years ago, where he was a longtime organizer and activist for the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers union.

“Sam believed in people. That’s why he was so political. He believed that people deserved more, and so there was a great faith in humanity,” said Joanne Nahem, Sam’s daughter.

Added his eldest son, Ivan, “I remember my dad said once he couldn’t understand James Joyce, and that was inconceivable to me he wouldn’t understand something, [especially] something literary, he was so well-read. As a kid, that was a shocking concept.”

Nahem, who grew up in a Syrian Jewish neighborhood where the first language was Arabic, excelled at a number of sports. His youngest son, Andrew, recalls tales of long, hot summers spent in backwoods towns during his minor league days — which Nahem would pass by “reading all of Balzac.” Sometimes, Nahem would even bring his books into the dugout.

“It was almost detrimental to him at that age. He was almost too bookish for the jocks he was around,” said Ivan Nahem. “He might have gone further [in baseball] if it weren’t for his bookishness, but that’s who he was.”

Besides being a Jew with an advanced degree, Nahem differed from his Major League teammates in his strong belief that baseball should be integrated.

“I was in a strange position. The majority of my fellow ballplayers, wherever I was, were very much against black ballplayers, and the reason was economic and very clear. They knew these guys had the ability to be up there and they knew their jobs were threatened directly and they very, very vehemently did all sorts of things to discourage black ballplayers,” Nahem told j. in a rollicking October 2003 interview.

Nahem enjoyed his best professional season in 1941, for the St. Louis Cardinals, when he went 5-2. A year later, however, he was a Philadelphia Phillie. The next year, he was drafted.

“Subway” Sam didn’t see combat in Europe. But, in 1945, he did team up with legendary Negro League pitcher Leon Day to lead the integrated Overseas Invasion Service Expedition all-stars over an all-white 71st Infantry Division team stocked with professionals. The high-pressure games were played in front of 50,000 rabid fans at the same Nuremburg stadium in which Hitler held his most infamous rallies.

Nahem made it back to the Big Leagues in 1948. In his career, he was 10-8 with one save and a 4.69 ERA.

After moving to Berkeley in 1955, Nahem threw himself into his work as a union organizer. Son Andrew recalls Nahem leading a successful strike against Chevron Chemical, “Being gone for days at a time and sleeping in his clothes and stuff like that.”

Nahem retired two decades ago, but would sometimes accompany friend and fellow union organizer David Aroner into negotiations as a volunteer, where his years of accumulated wisdom and legendary wit made him a formidable asset.

Nahem is survived by his children: Ivan of Hoboken, N.J.; Joanne of Minneapolis; and Andrew of New York City; and three grandchildren. His wife, Elsie died of cancer 30 years ago. Sam never remarried, but he did have a long-term relationship with Nancy Shafsky.

“I was always the envy of my friends because I had such a great father,” said Andrew Nahem.

“It’s been very hard the last few years. But, when I think about it overall, I feel tremendously lucky.”

The Nahem family requests donations in Sam’s name be sent to Doctors Without Borders, P.O. Box 1856, Merrifield, VA 22116-8056

pb::

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Jim Bucher (1934-37) died October 21. Though he played more games at third base (204) & also played 73 games in the outfield, he had been the leader in games played at second base (142) among survivors.

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Jimmy played during the Stengel era. Casey straightened him out one day after Bucher stayed out past curfew. While most players were excused from playing both games of a doubleheader in sweltering heat, Bucher played all 18 innings.
Bucher said Casey said the same thing the whole day that he did the night before when Casey saw him sneaking in , "How ya doin kid?".
It was during the depression and although Bucher didn't like the lesson, he appreciated the fact that Stengel didn't fine him.

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The passing of Mickey Owen leaves 87 living Brooklyn Dodgers. Owen had played for the Dodgers 1941-45. Herman Franks is now the only survivor of the 1941 team, while Cliff Dapper is the only survivor of the 1942 club.

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It's amazing but not too surprising that many people (including myself) forget that "Newk" is still alive. His seclusion from the spotlight, and successful battle with alcoholism have kind of left him out of the spotlight, while others (with very good reason I might add) have taken the forefront in "reunion" type affairs, like Branca, Erskine, and Snider. By all accounts he was one of the dominant and over-powering pitchers of the 50's but could never relax come playoff time. We have all heard the rumors I am sure of him fighting fans walking to his car, and disappearing for days after bad starts, but it is a shame that he was never warmly embraced these last few years and brought back into the limelight, unless he chose to be as enigmatic these last few years as he was when he played.

unknown brooklyn cabbie " how are the brooks doin"
unknown fan "good they got three men on base"
unknown brooklyn cabbie "which one?"

Comment

It's amazing but not too surprising that many people (including myself) forget that "Newk" is still alive. His seclusion from the spotlight, and successful battle with alcoholism have kind of left him out of the spotlight, while others (with very good reason I might add) have taken the forefront in "reunion" type affairs, like Branca, Erskine, and Snider. By all accounts he was one of the dominant and over-powering pitchers of the 50's but could never relax come playoff time. We have all heard the rumors I am sure of him fighting fans walking to his car, and disappearing for days after bad starts, but it is a shame that he was never warmly embraced these last few years and brought back into the limelight, unless he chose to be as enigmatic these last few years as he was when he played.

Newk, is very much in the public eye, he is evolved in speaking engagements, about alcohol addiction, mostly to the young people. He is still evolved with L.A team, to some extent, and will be at there 50th anniversary celebration, Aug. 28th.

********

Since we have a policy of no advertising on BBF, I have deleted that portion of Jackie 42's post which gives the information on how to contact Don Newcombe relative to contacting him for a speaking engagement, and also the portion which details how much he charges for his autograph on a bat or ball.

Yesterday, I asked Jackie42 to remove this portion himself, but he declined saying that he feels we have a double standard here because WE, and other Forums, allowed PaulMcall to publicize his recent book on Ebbets Field. The two incidents are not the same. PaulMcall has been a member of OUR Forum for a long time and during the course of the past few years, while he was writing his book, he frequently talked about it. It was therefore natural for all OUR members to ask where they could obtain a copy of the book, once Paul told US it was completed. The information that Jackie42 included in his post is essentially advertising/selling Don Newcombe's services, and THAT is against BBF policy and rules....and Jackie42 is well aware of that.

DODGER DEB

Last edited by DODGER DEB; 08-12-2005, 07:21 AM.
Reason: Part of this post has been deleted to comply with BBF's policy of NO ADVERTISING!

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The death of Al Lopez leaves 85 living Brooklyn Dodgers. He had been the last surviving Dodger of the teams of 1928, 1930, 1931 & 1932. Lonny Frey is now the only survivor of the 1933 team. Ray Berres is now the leader among catchers with 142 games.

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From MLB:
_Born Raoul Martial Dedeaux in New Orleans, he moved to California as a youngster. He played three seasons for Southern California, and after being scouted by his mentor, Casey Stengel, Dedeaux appeared in two games at shortstop for the 1935 Brooklyn Dodgers, going 1-for-4 with an RBI. "Just going into Ebbets Field was an exciting thing," said Dedeaux in an interview with MLB.com in September 2005. "I just loved those fans there and that was important to me. Unfortunately, I had gotten hurt earlier and was playing under quite a bit of pain, and it never bothered me to this day that I didn't have a longer career in the big leagues."